Bernard Daly traveled quite a long distance to get to Lake County from Ireland, but he wasn’t the first. As described in a wonderful book by long-time Lakeview resident Jim Ogle and Paiute Snake Tribe descendent, Clayton Chocktoot, there is evidence that, more than 14,000 years ago, some of the very first Americans traveled by foot all the way from Asia to Lake County. As described in the book, research by the University of Oregon archaeologist, Dennis Jenkins (aka Dr. Poop), shows that radiocarbon-dated human feces found in Paisley Caves are 14,300 years old, pre-dating previous findings from Clovis, New Mexico by more than a thousand years. Continue reading →

Geotab released a study that identified the least-traveled roads in each state and, according to traffic count data, the least-traveled road in Oregon is Route 395 heading north from Lakeview through Lake County. I know it well as I rode my bicycle the 100+ miles from Lakeview to Riley early in my west-to-east cross country bike trip in the summer of 2016. In my two days of riding 395 north from Lakeview, I saw only a few people (most stopped to ask if I needed water) and a couple of buildings but it was a beautiful ride alongside Lake Abert and geological wonders.Continue reading →

The American Dream of upward mobility is disappearing for many, but not all. In the 1940s, about 90% of children grew up to earn more than their parents; today only about half earn more than their parents. Economist Raj Chetty and his colleagues recently released a study and remarkable web-based tool revealing that, when it comes to upward mobility, place matters. Chetty and his colleagues used data from tax and census records to track data for more than 20 million Americans back to the neighborhoods where they grew up. In high-density urban areas, using the on-line tool, researchers have found that only a few blocks can make all the difference to educational attainment and future earnings (see https://opportunityinsights.org/press/).Continue reading →